Department of State bolsters
NIU peace effort in Philippines

by Tom Parisi

Outbursts of terrorism and ethnic-fueled civil war are an ordinary part of life on the Philippine island of Mindanao, where enmity between Christians and the Bangsamoro, a linguistically and culturally diverse group of native Muslim minorities, has simmered over the course of four centuries.

That is why it was so unusual last summer to see Christian, Muslim and tribal youth come together – more than 2,000 of them in all – for a children’s peace festival in the southern Philippines.

“The children of Muslim separatist fighters were among those who performed cultural dances, and even some of the rebels themselves attended,” says Susan Russell, director of NIU’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies. “It’s amazing.”

Lasting peace in Mindanao won’t be accomplished overnight, but NIU is helping to plant seeds of tolerance with hopes that they will blossom in the next generation. Some of the young people and adults who organized the peace festival were graduates of NIU’s “Bridging the Gap” program, an intensive one-month training institute held on campus last spring.

The institute was so successful that the U.S. State Department is providing $400,000 to continue the program this year and next. A new group of 34 Filipinos, most of them in their teens, will arrive on April 3 for a month-long stay at NIU.

The institute aims to teach conflict-resolution and inter-ethnic dialogue skills to teen-agers and young adults from Mindanao, the largest and least-developed island in the southern Philippines. Along with other islands in the southern Philippines, it is home to 13 different ethno-linguistic groups. Institute participants also will examine the important role of volunteerism in civil society and will be introduced to American institutions that promote tolerance and religious diversity.

“This is a small part of the United States’ huge and very expensive peace initiative in Mindanao,” says Russell, an anthropology professor specializing in the Philippines. “We’re creating a generation of future leaders with good values toward peace and tolerance.”

Russell and Lina Ong, director of the NIU International Training Office, head up NIU’s Bridging the Gap program, which brings together the talents of about 10 faculty members with expertise in Southeast Asia and/or racial and ethnic relations. The U.S. Embassy in Manila, Capitol University in Mindanao and the International Visitors Program-Philippines also are collaborating on the project.

While at NIU, the Filipino activists will participate in classes and workshops, learning about different strategies for conducting inter-faith dialogue, conflict resolution and mediation.

Visits are planned to area churches, mosques and synagogues, as well as to a homeless shelter and other local organizations. The young Filipinos will interact with NIU students and peers from DeKalb, Sycamore and Rochelle high schools. They also will meet with community activists and local government leaders in DeKalb, Chicago, Springfield and Indianapolis.

Institute leaders will conduct follow-up visits later this year to Mindanao, where participants’ action plans will be further refined and their successes documented. The institute format is modeled after last year’s program, which succeeded beyond the organizers’ expectations.

“The graduates of this program already are building and expanding the network of young peacemakers that this project has created,” Ong says. “They are starting diversity clubs in their schools and exposing others to conflict-resolution skills. They are committed to building a ‘community of communities’ in their home areas.”

Professor Nagasura Madale, an NIU alumnus who is on campus this semester as a visiting professor from Capitol University in the Philippines, says the NIU program is a first of its kind.

“One of the problems in Mindanao is we have a lot of groups and institutions doing their own kind of peace,” says Madale, who is among the NIU institute trainers. “This project is unique because we are able to bring all the groups together to support a larger effort.

“We’re happy the project will be allowed to continue over three years,” he adds. “By then, we will have developed about 100 students and adults who will change the playing field. It’s a big step toward peace.”

For more information on the Bridging the Gap program, visit www.niu.edu/cseas/outreach/PhilAccess/accessfs.htm.

3-28-05